Behold: the woman is calling Saul’s attention to what she is about to say.

Your handmaid has hearkened to you: if translated literally this may give the impression that the woman is talking about someone else. She is, however, using this indirect reference in speaking of herself to show her respect for Saul. Since the same idea is repeated at the end of the verse using first person singular pronouns, it may sound redundant to repeat it. The idea of politeness should, however, be conveyed in some way. Good News Translation does so with “Please, sir….”

Taken my life in my hand: see the comment on this same idiom in 19.5.

Hearkened to what you have said: that is, “obeyed your instructions.” See the comments at 25.35.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Now therefore: literally “And now.” But the context may require a more logical connection as in Revised Standard Version.

Hearken to your handmaid: that is, “listen to me” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “please heed what I say.” The Hebrew contains the particle of entreaty that is often translated “please” or is left untranslated. The woman again uses the indirect reference to herself to show her politeness. She is also using the same vocabulary as in the previous verse and arguing in effect that Saul should listen to her just as she had listened to him.

Let me set a morsel of bread before you: the woman is offering to prepare something for Saul to eat. This may be worded in various ways depending on receptor language usage. Some possible models are “let me set something before you to eat” (New American Bible) and “I would like to bring you a little food” (Bible en français courant).

When you go on your way: that is, “for your journey” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), assuming that Saul would soon leave Endor and return to his army.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Servants: see verse 7.

Urged him: that is “encouraged him to eat” or “kept on asking him to take some food.”

He hearkened to their words: the same verb is used here as in the two previous verses, but since Saul had at first refused to eat and changed his mind only at the insistence of his companions and the woman, some languages may require a different verb or the addition of an adverb like “finally” (Good News Translation). Revised English Bible says “he yielded,” and Bible en français courant translates “he ended up by accepting.” New Jerusalem Bible provides another possible model, “allowing himself to be persuaded….”

The Hebrew word rendered bed means “a place of reclining” and includes various kinds of mats, as well as solid structures with a frame. Some languages will speak quite naturally of a “sleeping place” in such a context.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

A fatted calf: literally “calf from the stall,” that is, a calf that had been confined to a stall and fed to become fat. For this reason New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “a stall-fed calf” (so also New American Bible). Translators will recall the use of a similar expression in the story of the lost son in Luke 15.

In the house: the Hebrew can be translated in the house (so Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible) or “at home” (so Revised English Bible). Since Israelite houses were constructed to include space for animals as well as people, the translation in the house is probably correct. But a literal translation may give the wrong impression in cultures where animals are not kept in the same building where people live. Good News Translation avoids the problem by omitting any reference to the house. New International Version and New Century Version have “at the house,” which may help to avoid misunderstanding. But probably the best solution is to translate in the house and provide a footnote explaining this aspect of Israelite culture.

Quickly killed it is literally “made haste and killed it.” See the comments on verse 20 above.

Kneaded it: in some languages the translation of this verb may require several words. The term refers to the action of using the hands to press and work flour and liquid to form a mass of the consistency required for baking bread.

Unleavened bread: in translating the idea unleavened or “without yeast,” some languages have had to say something like “lacking that which causes it [bread] to rise” or “bread that does not swell up.” As in the case of the first Passover meal (Exo 12.8), the reason for preparing this type of bread is that it was quicker. Waiting for bread with yeast to rise takes time, and the woman felt that there was no time to waste.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Servants: see verse 7.

She put it before Saul: the Hebrew text leaves a great deal to the imagination of the reader. Presumably the pronoun it in Revised Standard Version refers to both the bread that was baked and the meat. There is, in fact, no pronoun in the Hebrew. New Revised Standard Version says more logically “she put them before Saul.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses the demonstrative pronoun “this.” Other versions supply “the meal” (New American Bible) or “the food” (Revised English Bible and New Century Version as well as Good News Translation). Also, the text says nothing about the meat of the fatted calf having been cooked, but it is very unlikely that raw meat was offered to Saul and his companions.

On the verb rose used in series with another verb, see the comments on the word “arise” at 9.3 and in “Translating the Books of Samuel,” page 20 and following.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Chapter 29 continues the story that was interrupted after 28.1-2. See the comments on the section heading at 28.3.

Now translates the common Hebrew conjunction, which may be left untranslated in this context.

Aphek: many scholars think that this Aphek is the same as that mentioned in 4.1. Others, however, consider the Aphek referred to here to be a different town that was located in the Jezreel Valley. La Bible du Semeur, for example, expresses the second understanding in a footnote. For most translations this name can probably be stated without having to indicate whether it is the same town as that mentioned in 4.1.

Fountain: the English word “fountain” may refer either to (1) a spring of water coming out of the earth or (2) a structure built for shooting water into the air. The first meaning is intended here. The spring is not named, but the reference is probably to the spring of Harod (mentioned in Judges 6.33–7.1). The translators of Revised English Bible and New American Bible have accepted the proposal that the name “Harod” was accidentally omitted from the text and have inserted the name into the text. Revised English Bible says “the Israelites encamped at En-harod in Jezreel,” and New American Bible reads “the Israelites were encamped at the spring of Harod near Jezreel.”

Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text, claiming that the name of the fountain was not part of the Hebrew text. Nevertheless, for translation purposes the name may be added, since there is widespread agreement among scholars that this is the well that is intended. An alternative is to include this information in a footnote, as Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente has done: “The fountain of Jezreel is with all probability that called En Harod, at the foot of Mount Gilboa.” It is probably unwise to follow the model of Contemporary English Version, which gives the impression that the name of this spring was “Jezreel Spring.” Rather translators should probably speak of “the fountain that is in Jezreel” (New Revised Standard Version) or “the spring in Jezreel Valley” as in Good News Translation.

Jezreel (see also verse 11) is a valley located about eighty kilometers (or fifty miles) north of Jerusalem. It is also a town located at the eastern end of this valley. The footnote in Bible en français courant states that the name here refers to the town, and the Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente translation says “the city of Jezreel.” The Good News Translation rendering, however, clearly refers to the valley. Either is possible, but the use of the verb went up in verse 11 seems to imply that it is the city that is intended.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The lords of the Philistines: that is, the five Philistine kings (see the comment on 5.8). Here the literal rendering of Revised Standard Version gives the mistaken impression that there were thousands of lords of the Philistines. But what is meant is that the five Philistine kings were marching by with their groups of soldiers, as New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “each with his units of hundreds or of thousands.” On the expression by hundreds and by thousands, see the comments on 22.7.

Achish, the Philistine king of Gath (see 21.10), was last mentioned in 28.2. Translators may wish to identify Achish again here as “King Achish” (Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Achish was one of the five lords, not an additional one.

Revised Standard Version, following the Hebrew, continues the sentence begun in this verse through to the middle of verse 3. This makes a long, complicated sentence that should probably be broken down into smaller units in most languages. The entire verse may be translated as follows:

• The five Philistine kings gathered all of their troops and marched out in battalions. The soldiers of Achish, the King of Gath, brought up the rear; and David and his men marched in the rear with Achish and his troops.

The translation in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The commanders of the Philistines are apparently the leaders of the different battalions and should not be confused with the five kings mentioned in verse 2. La Bible du Semeur, which identifies these leaders as the five “princes,” should therefore be avoided as a model.

Hebrews: in order to try to capture the pejorative nature of the term used by the Philistines, Contemporary English Version translates “these worthless Israelites.” See the comments on 4.6.

The question of the Philistine commanders may be understood in two different ways. Literally the Hebrew says only “What these Hebrews?” Some scholars understand this to be a question of identity: “Who are those Hebrews?” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Others, however, like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, take it to be a question about the reason for the presence of Hebrew soldiers in the Philistine army.

Achish’s question in response to the commanders is rhetorical. Revised Standard Version has no question mark at the end of the question, but the wording is interrogative. This question may be translated as an emphatic statement in the receptor language. Achish is not asking the question to find out if it is really David, but rather is affirming that he has confidence in David, since David and his men have been with Achish for a considerable length of time.

Servant: see the comment on 21.11 for a discussion of the translation of this word as “official.” Since David has been living among the Philistines for quite some time (see 27.7) and has apparently been serving Achish the Philistine king, Achish regards David as his own servant and no longer as Saul’s servant (see 27.12). For this reason one may follow the model of Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente and say “This is David, who was [past tense] an aide of Saul, king of Israel.”

For days and years: there is some question about whether the Masoretic Text contains the original reading here, since the exact meaning of this expression is not clear. But in light of 27.7 the general meaning is clear. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “for a year or more.” New International Version similarly has “for over a year.” A literal translation will not be clear or natural in many languages. Following the Septuagint Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, La Bible Pléiade, La Bible du Semeur, and Osty-Trinquet say “a year or two.” Contemporary English Version, translating much more dynamically, has Achish say that David “left Saul and joined my army a long time ago.”

Since he deserted to me: a reference to the events of 27.1-4. This may have to be expressed in some languages as “since he abandoned Israel to serve me” or he “left Saul and joined my army” (Contemporary English Version).

I have found no fault in him: literally “I have not found in him anything.” It will probably be necessary to add a word such as fault to make clear that the king is talking about not finding anything negative about David.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .